The use of polymers to make polymer modified asphalt (PMA) is growing nationally and internationally. The increased use of polymers to modify asphalt is because most base or virgin asphalts are not suitable for use in different environments owing to different geographical and temperature conditions around the country. In order to satisfy the demand for more polymers, manufacturers are seeking to increase production, especially of less expensive polymers which are suitable for asphalt modification.
One type of economical polymer which is readily available at a reasonable price is synthetic rubber or butadiene back bone polymer because of it's high volume of consumption. Most of these commodity type polymers reagglomerate after grinding into crumb rubber, which is a major drawback to their acceptance by the asphalt modification industry. The present invention relates to a method for making a modified asphalt using synthetic rubber which prevents reagglomeration of the rubber. This reduces the dispersion time of the polymer into the asphalt and also decreases the viscosity of the modified asphalt.